Story (6/10):
Durarara starts off fairly well. It follows in the vein of Baccano in which we follow each and every character’s whereabouts and how they all eventually intervene. It establishes the characters, their relationships with one another, and their issues. And some of the characters individual stories were downright fun to watch (Anything with Shizuo Heiwajima is a blast). But due to this style, the plot is stretched out much longer than it needs to be making the viewer forget some details as well as being frustrated as to what's going on. But it all leads up to the climax that surprises, but never really answers the main conflict.
The plot worsens in the second half as it went from a flawed, but still entertaining ride, to a melodramatic mess. Sure the story becomes more focused, but it also loses a lot of what originally made the show somewhat charming. The inconsistent tone shift from a chill, rather light setting to a more dark and dramatic one was plain jarring. It baffles me that out of all the quirky characters in the roster from the maniplative Izaya to the ironically destructive Shizuo that the show would focus of the three bland high schoolers. They simply don’t have the wit or drive that made me invested in the previous arcs.
As for the narration, it’s a hit or miss. On some episodes, it’s was used for good effect to emphasize the personalities of certain characters with some clever writing with a great example being in episode 3 (Men with overwhelming power instinctively strike fear into the hearts of others. He’s violence personified. Its what he lives and breathes. Simply put, he’s the very definition of violence). If that's not awesome then I don't know what is. But at it’s worst, the narration can lead to info dumping, over explaining, and redundant recapping of stuff we already picked up.
Characters (6/10):
If there was one thing Baccano did right, it was giving almost every character an equal amount of screentime to flesh out their personalities and make them one to remember. Durarara, on the other hand, gives the spotlight to the uninteresting characters which sidelines the quirky characters we actually want to get to know which makes the forgettable characters forgettable and the potential characters forgotten. You can’t deny that you wanted more Shizuo vs. Izaya, more Russia Sushi, and more missions with Celty.
The main character Mikado is as bland as any protagonist can get. He’s average, wimpy, and just doesn’t stand out no matter how high the stakes can get. Anri is slightly better as we sort of get an insight on why she is the way she is, but she is still uninteresting and you just know a character is shallow when the only thing standing out is her big... (Well, you know). Masaomi is the only one of the three who gets actual development even if it was melodramatic. He still pales to the rest of the cast and can get tiresome at times, but he at least tries to have sort of a chemistry with the other two mains.
The side characters are thankfully much more interesting than the mains. Shizuo Heiwajima’s mindset of hating violence, but solving with violence is an absolute joy to watch. He steals the screen every time he’s featured and his individual episode was probably the pinnacle of the shows awesome absurdity. His chemistry with Izaya is miles above the rest of the cast as you can just feel the tense rivalry between the two. Izaya seems to be there as a plot device to explain everything that's happening which can be a bit overbearing, but with such a despicably fun personality I can almost forgive this. Celty, for someone who lacks a head, is probably the most human and likable of the characters which will keep you invested in her arc. As for the rest, they’re quirky and fun, but they have a severe lack of screentime to make them memorable.
Animation (7/10):
Brains Base does a great job with the detailed backgrounds giving life to Ikebukuro and the animation being smooth for the most part. The show has a unique look to it which gives it identity, As for the background characters being greyed out, i'm not really a huge fan of this. While it gives focus to the featured character, shouldn’t the character have enough features to make him/herself distinct. If not, then this is a clear flaw in character design.
Sound (8/10):
Opening 1 is fantastic and fits the show very well. It just makes you feel cool when you listen to it. Opening 2, is fitting with the second half of the show in which the show takes a more dramatic turn. Its still a great listen, but it just didn’t hype me up for what was otherwise a disappointing second half while the first opening could hype me up no matter what. I never bothered to listen much to the endings, so I can’t comment much on them other than they simply didn’t stand out.
The ost for Durarara is what gave the show it's cool status, it’s wild personality, and it’s life in general. As intense jazz plays in the background, you know something is going to go down. As the calm whistles play in the background, you can immerse yourself in the odd city of Ikebukuro. Each piece just sees so fitting and it's something I can listen too on its own. Having seen the dub, it definitely works. Everyone fits their role well from the uncertain Mikado, to the intimidating Shizuo, to the charismatic Izaya, to the curious Celty, this is very well done. The narration is also much easier to listen to for the dub so that's also a plus.
Conclusion:
Watch Baccano first not just for a comparison, but there is also a really great easter egg in one of Durarara’s episodes so be on the lookout. But on its own, Durarara is much less interesting than it pretends to be, but that's not to say that I didn’t enjoy it. After all, it's still reaches rule of cool at points thanks to a fun setting and characters. Overall, I give Durarara a 6/10.
